The Daily Jesus

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Posted by Connor on March 28th, 2007

Cross-posted at Blogger of Jared for our Easter Symposium.

As this Easter season approaches I find myself pondering the daily Jesus. Not so much the Jesus whose miracles and teachings are recorded in holy writ—I’m thinking of the Jesus we might learn of were we able to read “many other things”:

And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. (John 21:25)

The Jesus we know is a teacher, a Savior, a miracle worker. He healed, He comforted, He served.

But what did He do when He wasn’t doing those things?

A few passages in the scriptures give us purposefully vague descriptions of Jesus’ developmental activities:

And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him. (Luke 2:40)

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. (Luke 2:52)

And I, John, saw that he received not of the fulness at the first, but received grace for grace;
And he received not of the fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fulness; (D&C 93:12-13)

I find myself wondering what Jesus was like on a day to day basis. No doubt He was not any different from the Man who performed miracles—but what was He like to talk to? To have a conversation with? To share a meal with? To observe playing with His friends as a teenager? To watch as He worked as a carpenter?

In Gerald Lund’s “Kingdom and the Crown” series, the reader gets a special (albeit fictional) glimpse at exactly these types of things. Lund uses historical fiction to fill in some of the gaps and show what Jesus might have been like to interact with on a daily basis.

After reading this series I felt so much closer to the Savior. He came alive to me, as I was able to picture Him in normal settings and interacting with normal people like me. I envisioned Him running errands in the marketplace, smiling to strangers, helping those in need, and teaching those who would listen.

I testify that Jesus is our Savior, our Redeemer, and our King. But He was—and still is—a Son, a Friend, a Brother, and a Person. I look forward to one day being able to interact with Him on a daily basis.

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